Bill Clinton Launches Malaria Drug Scheme in Tanzania
A scheme has been launched by Bill Clinton - formerly the US President - in which Tanzania will have access to malaria treatment at reduced rates. While a pilot programme at this stage, some predict that the trailblazing model could be adopted in other African countries. Specifically, the relevant medication will be provided at 10 per cent of its market price. Initially supplied to a nationwide wholesaler of drugs, it will then be distributed to affected regions within Tanzania.
Malaria is present in a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease is responsible for 3,000,000 fatalities on an annual basis, whilst also inducing serious illness in millions more. The main concentration of these fatalities is in Africa, where malaria is prevalent in young children.
Malaria is treatable, with 21st century artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) drugs much more efficacious than their forebears, including the likes of chloroquine. However, they are financially inaccessible to many people; a single treatment priced at up to $10.
In the main, Africans tend to acquire their medicines privately, despite significant reductions in ACT drugs made by pharmaceutical firms including Sanofi-Avensis SA and Novartis. In Tanzania itself, around 50 per cent of those afflicted with malaria go down the private treatment route, favouring this over the national public health system there. Faced with the expense of the modern generation of ACTs, these individuals instead prefer to procure older treatments; up to 30 times less expensive, but not as effective as their more up-to-date counterparts.
So, the pilot programme being trialled by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative has been conceived to investigate the viability of offering ACT drugs at a subsidised rate. This, as confirmed by a spokesman from the foundation.
The pilot will soon be launched in two locations within the centre of Tanzania, and it is hoped up to 450,000 people will benefit from it each year.
Mr Clinton is presently on an African tour that includes visits to Zambia, Malawi and South Africa, as well as Tanzania. In conversation with the press, he affirmed his sentiment that "Not one soul should die of malaria."
Source - Pharmaceutical International's African Correspondent
